Les Jones: Return of the New Knoxville Brewing Company

August 20, 2004

East Tennessee > Return of the New Knoxville Brewing Company

I decided to break out of my recent rut tonight and head the Old City while Melissa was in her yoga class. The street I wanted to park on was closed, so I had to circle around the warehouse district and decided to explore. There's a foundry. There's an electrical supply warehouse. There's the Knoxville Truancy Center, conveniently located near the Knoxville Opera Company so that a truant baritone has a shot at making a better life for himself.

What's this? The New Knoxville Brewing Company Tasting Room. The brew company went out of business four years ago and has been greatly missed. I knew Al, ones of the guys who started it. But there they were, with two guys sitting out front in the 7:00 PM sun. I pulled in and started chatting with Brett and Brad.

Turns out the New (New) Knoxville Brewing Company is open for business again at the old location. They have distribution deals with Kroger's and other local stores for the bottled stuff. They've bought a year's worth of advertising in Metro Pulse and the (UT) Daily Beacon for the Tasting Room, their new bar that's located at the brewery.

Tonight was their opening night and I was their first customer. They're all nice folks. They don't have a Web site yet, but they plan on it eventually. Darts and pool are in the works, too.

Aurora is the brewery dog. She has the most amazing color I've seen on an animal. It's a beige that looks like it was custom ordered to co-ordinate with someone's couch and drapes. Oh, and Kim's nifty, too.

The address is 708 E. Depot Avenue, and the number is 522-0029 if you need directions. Or do what I did. Get lost in the Old City and hang a left.

Posted by lesjones

Comments

Aurora looks like a sweet dog.

The most unusual color on a dog I've seen was a straw-colored Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Their color ranges from deep chocolate brown to straw colored. They also have yellow eyes, webbed toes, and I swear, waterproof fur. The straw-colored ones are the most rare ones, and w/the yellow eyes they can look really eerie. But they're cool dogs.

Posted by: Tana D. at August 20, 2004

Any idea what the hours are? I called at 4:00 P.M. and only got an answering machine. Great news though.

Posted by: Hymn at August 20, 2004

Not sure of the hours, sorry. That's one of those things that will be easy to find out once they have a Web site.

Posted by: Les Jones at August 21, 2004

I'll be heading through Knoxville soon, and I'll check it out. I used to live there...great town!!

Posted by: Sam at August 22, 2004

To be the first customer and then not even discuss the product being brewed begs the question; why did you go there in the first place? For those of us who know what a 'craft-brew' is all about, your piece seems more suited to the American Kennel Club... poor show ol'man

Posted by: Bullwinkle at September 18, 2004

i think they open around 5 or 6 pm, but i could be wrong. the beer is great! better than the last. the hops are still hanging out, but there is a oh-so-slight sweetness that makes you wonder what ingredients they use. the ipa, the pale ale, and the english brown ale is what they have right now. the brown is tasteful! you can't have just one. (and who would?) also, their existance is in current progress, so check it out now and then check it out again later. i heard the website should be up and running again soon, so keep an eye out for it. drink it up and y'all take care.

Posted by: knox chick at February 22, 2005

Tasting room opens at 7pm W-Sat. The Brown Ale has been replaced by a "True German Hefeweizen" for the summer. Open mic every Thursday at 9pm. Thanks for the interest.

Posted by: Clint at August 29, 2005